The first breakdown in 26 years?
British sports cars, especially those from small-series manufacturers, are not necessarily famous for their reliability; some are even considered notoriously prone to breakdowns.
Well, I can't say that about my TVR 3000 S. I've owned it for 26 years now and I can't remember a single breakdown that would have prevented the car from making it home or to the mechanic. Of course, it's possible that my memory is deceiving me, 26 years is a long time, but the plastic sports car has actually performed reliably so far. Small problems, which of course also occurred from time to time, never caused a complete standstill or mobility problems.
Well, until a few weeks ago, anyway. When I tried to start the car after it had been stationary for about a month, it did so without any problems, but it wouldn't engage a gear. The forward gears basically refused to engage, and reverse gear reacted to the attempt with angry scraping noises. So I engaged first gear with the engine stopped and then started the car, which immediately began to move forward with the starter.
I initially thought it was a hydraulic or clutch fault. However, my trusted mechanic explained to me that it was probably a "stuck" clutch. This can happen in high humidity, and there has been no shortage of this over the past few weeks, but it is not a major mishap.
Simply restart the engine when it is already warm, with the clutch depressed and the gear engaged, and after a short drive press the brakes fully, and the clutch would release itself. This procedure caused me a bit of grief, partly because of the local conditions, but I put the recommendation into practice anyway with a queasy feeling.
And indeed, it worked! I didn't even have to initiate an emergency stop, because the unevenness of the garage driveway was enough to release the clutch again. And the TVR purred again as before and was easy to drive, which I enjoyed on a short fall drive (see picture above).
Anyway, I love stories with a "happy ending", do you?
